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Addiction is something nobody believes will happen to them. They don't believe it. Hope stays alive because everyone tells the truth and we believe the truth. That's why people keep buying more and more products...they believe what they hear. People don't lie, they exaggerate, leave details out, embellish and insinuate wherever needed. Only hardened criminals lie.

Nobody ever knows the real truth by definition. Friends and people who care tell you what they honestly believe. People with something to gain tell you what you want to hear and leave out the rest. People listen instead of THINK. They believe what others tell them to instead of thinking for themselves.

Sometimes hope is all a person has left. Without hope there is no life therefore people fight to hang on to the last shred of hope and won't let go. Wanting, yearning, waiting, wondering, hoping, wishing, never giving up. Is that what addiction is?

My name is Kevin and I haven't bought a WSO for 35 minutes . . .

I am not addicted I could stop any time if I wanted to. I just don't want to.

PS are you selling anything... maybe a new way to exploit IM addictions I will buy it ,I bet its the next big and will make me millions in 4 days on autopilot.

EDIT: My tongue is directly in my cheek.

What you seem to be suggesting, or trying to prove is that people become addicted to buying make money products, and that this actually makes them feel better about themselves. I think for you to prove that you would have to show that firstly people do become addicted to make money products; secondly that make money products make people feel better about themselves and thirdly that people become addicted to make money products because they feel want to feel better about themselves.

Personally I think a lot of people, especially in the current economy buy make money products out of desperation. It is a lot like buying a lottery ticket and it could even be said that the more make money products you buy the more like winning the lottery your chances of getting anything out of it becomes. Can you become addicted to buying make money products for that reason? I don't know. I do know that I have on my hard drive at present more than 480 different ebooks and courses all relating in some way to making money online. It has taken a few years to acrue that many and to be honest the sheer number of them depress me rather than make me feel better. Every week I dust a couple off, give them a try following the steps offered in the product and basically just add to the number of websites I will eventually sell purely and simply because they have flopped.

Devewr made the comment that you should not seek proof to simply back something you already believe and Thriftgirl52 made some really good comments about hope. I would agree with both of these responses. I align myself with Cathy Shelver in my final comments - I am not addicted and I can stop anytime I want to - I just don't want to yet

Best of luck with your research
Lisa

Doctorjay,

There are two schools of thought with respect to this.

Firstly many products are well designed to teach people the fundamentals of the marketing business, and if followed through properly, a seed money investment of less than $100 can yeild a return if people know what they are doing.

The fact is that many people learning the business don't know what they're doing fully, but are determined to succeed, and subsequently buy more products to enhance their online education, and justifying the purchase as an investment.

Human nature is such that most people want the easy life, and once people realise that this business like any other takes effort, skill and business savvy there can be a tendency to pull away, and that earning a large income doesn't come overnight.

Ultimately many people lack the tenacity to carry things through, and give up if their 1st 2nd or 3rd project fails to break even, and given that in comparison to the traditional business, the overheads with online marketing pale into insignificance, people are not necessarily pushed by financial commitment with the online business model.

There no doubt, will be people that are addicted to the pursuit of purchasing products for no more than the pleasure it gives them and I'm sure you will be able to associate these patterns of behavior with other more commonly associated addictions.

In concluding this post I would like to leave you with a little thought that would make your paper somewhat interesting...

Within internet marketing people are able to purchase products which can help them turn a profit in a short period of time, we conclude that some will succeed some wont succeed and quit the business altogether, while others will keep purchasing products in the hope that they will succeed.

Compare this with the traditional education systems of college and university where students have to pay several thousand up front for a degree level education and leave with a qualification 3-5 years later in highly in debt and end up working a job other than their qualification field.

If someone spent 3 years and $90,000 on internet marketing products could you assume a case for addiction? and if so what would be your case with the traditional education system where the outcomes between the two remain parallel...

Food for thought

John

First, there's nothing new about people buying MMO products. It's been going on for ages.

Second, there's no facts that prove they are buying them to make them feel better about themselves. You made that up. There are numerous reasons people buy them, and one of them is that they want to learn how to make money online.

Third ... you're assuming they take no action. Actually, many of them take action but they have bought themselves a piece of crap that will never work no matter how much action you take. The problem is with the product, not the buyer, but the buyer wants to transfer blame to the buyer, so he/she says ... well, they never took any action.

There are plenty that don't take action, but there are plenty that do.

It is true that there are certain types of people who continually seek out the "get rich quick" schemes and buy one after another, hoping the next one will bring the riches they want. Many of these people are intellectually not capable of ever really launching a successful online business. They are simply lazy and looking for the quick path to getting rich without working for it. Is that addiction? I don't think so. I think it's age old problem with some of not having a work ethic and being dumb enough to swallow the lies and hype hook, line and sinker.

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Suzanne , did you feel that was worth saying twice

I think Suzanne nailed it for me!

Am not sure about the author but given 5 posts on the forum are we really discussing with someone who knows what he is talking about?

Dennis

There was some interesting discussion in THIS THREAD.

Maybe they are addicted to the "hope" and before they can finish the first package, or sometimes even start, they read the hype on package number 2. Before you know it, they are buying package number 3.

I think addiction is doing something that takes up most of your time and not getting any good from it. If you buy stuff like making money online, I wouldn't say it's an addiction but it's a way of showing that someone's determined to meet their goal which is to start making a living online.

I think people are more addicted to what these products can give them......a better lifestyle.

Many people are addicted to the idea that they can live as if they were on vacation every single day. After all, isn't that the goal of retirement? To stop working and do what you want...

The problem is that fewer than 3% of the population are willing to put in the work that is needed to make their business a success. Moreover, fewer than 3% even call this a business. Most people call it "Somthing I'll give a try" or "Somthing I'll play around with."

My point is most people I think are addicted to an ideal lifestyle rather than a product or service.

It is the ultimate problem to fix

Brandon

I would say it's more of the mindset rather than addiction...

If you're referring to people who keep on buying and buying but are not taking action - been there, done that... That's the result of the "Get rich quick" and "magic pill" mentality...

Once I shifted out of it, I only buy products I know I would need and also I make sure I take action based on what I do learn from those products...

Well I started looking into IM in August 2008 and sort of went down this avenue. I was told to sell stuff to make money which usually resulted in me choosing a product to sell, whacking offers around places and pretty much spamming.

Whilst my dreams appeared impossible to reach, internet marketing gurus reach out to you. They reach out to you and make you think, "Of course I'm not making money yet. I haven't even brought [enter guru's name]'s latest product.

So you buy a product for $35 bucks, watch the videos, read the pdf files and suddenly feel really motivated to acheive.
Then you realise you actually have to write a lot, research, spend more money. Depression and feelings of self worthlessness kick in until another guru picks you up, off of the ground and back on your feet. They have the answer for you, spinning that merry go round of hell around once again.

Two years later I still am not making money. I have read and accquired enough knowledge to do so but simply haven't made a solid plan and stuck to it for long enough to see results. Two years later I know what my problem is. I'm bloody lazy!

I have spent weeks working on a website that is only something I enjoy and not a goldmine.

I figure it takes 4 years to get a trade cert so I'll be quite happy if I am wise enough by 2012 to be supporting myself off my own back. That's my central goal, the same goal I share with many other WF members.

I will make money and it is because I have identified my problems and the mistakes I've made. The IM game is simple but the prizes definetely won't come easy. You don't need as many brains as you do braun.

Hope this helps or inspires someone.

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Hi I'm Chris and I'm IMOholic

Sometimes the factor behind these is far beyond what most people think. There are many things on the internet, newbies will certainly find it difficult staying glue to something that did not produce quick outcome. As a result of these, they jump to a premature conclusion that that particular business model does not work and they need to move to another.

Excellent thread you have started Doctorjay10,

I think internet marketing is almost like an addiction. The only difference is that this is a better addiction than other addictions. So continue with this as long as you are making money!

I havent bounght a single product for quite sometime you know. except product that really helped me on my business. i rarely buy information products instead of software because you can make a good use to it. instead of buying information products, you feel overwhelmed on the first time and after that, you feel nothing and werent motivated to apply it.

Never bought a single tutorial on making money on line and I am doing quite well... People can't go trough the critical period of pushing their limits. The momment the project becomes too repetitive, or requires too much waiting, people are leaving the boat...

Most of people quit, just before the moment their venture would start making money, without even realizing. Uncertainty is a breach of comfort zone, learn to relax in that environment...

Thrust in yourself more, than the books. Most of the ideas and concepts of making money online are within you. Taking someone else's method won't get you the results you want, except instant gratification if venture succeeds. Than off to the new method?

im addicted to girls hehehe no this BS